Garment-clasp.



PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905. B. N. HUMPHRE Y.

GARMENT CLASP. APPLICATION FILED APR. 5, 1904.

UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

GARMENT-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,745, dated March 14, 1905.

Application iiled April 5, 1904. Serial No. 201,698.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST N. HUMPHREY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Garment-Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in garment-clasps; and the objects of my improvements are simplicity and economy in construction and efficiency in operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my clasp in its closed position. Fig. 2 is a like view of the same in its open position and with one of the pivotal ears in section. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the same on the line m of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a front elevation with the operating-lever and one jaw member removed.

A designates one jaw member, which is provided with turned-up ears 6, which, as shown, are struck up to form sockets or bearings for the pivots 7 of the operating-lever B, the said ears also serving to form guides for the middle portion of the companion member C. The said jaw member A has at its lower end (when in the position shown) an offset 8, which is provided with an opening 9, Fig. 5, to receive the heel 10 of the member C. A thin fiat spring 11 extends over a portion of the broad side or outer face of the jaw member A and is secured thereto by lugs 12 12, bent over the edge of the said jaw member forward of the ears 6 and in the rear of the points or teeth 13. The other end of this spring is doubled upon itself to form the pocket 14 for the heel 10 of the member 6, and the said end or pocket 14 extends beyond the adjacent end of the jaw member A. The other jaw member, C, is provided with points or teeth 13 at the clasping end, the said points being arranged in the usual manner, so that the points on one jaw are opposite a blank space of the companion jaw. This member C is provided with an offset 15 at a point just forward of the ears 6 and is notched slightly at each edge at the part which lies between the said ears. The heel 10 is made narrow enough to pass through the opening 9 in the offset 8 of the jaw member A, and the end of the said heel is received in the pocket 14. The operating-lever B is provided with pivots 7 by means of which it is pivotally mounted in the ears 6 of the frame or jaw member A. The said lever is provided with two arms standing at substantially a right angle to each other, one being the short or holding arm 16 for bearing on the jaw member C in forcing the jaws together and the other being an operating-arm provided with an eye 17 to receive a strap, tape, or webbing.

The two jaw members A and C are fulcrumed one upon the other within the offset 8 while the heel 10 of the member C is engaged by the spring 11, with a tendency to hold the jaws in their open position, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. By changing the position of the operating-lever from that shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4: to the position shown in Fig. 1, the short or holding arm 16 bears on the member C and forces the jaws together.

The clasp may of course be used in any position and for any purpose to which it may be adapted; but it is especially designed for clasping upon the lower edge of a garment with a supporting-strap (not shown) depending from the eye 17, the strain upon which strap will tend to hold the operating-lever in the clamping position shown in Fig. 1.

I claim as my invention 1. In a garment-clasp, the combination of the two jaw members fulcrumed one upon the other and having holding-jaws at one end with a separately-formed flat spring secured to one of the said members and engaged by the other at a point on the opposite side of the said fulcrum from the said jaws, for holding the said spring under tension for opening the said jaws.

2. In a garment-clasp, the combination of the two jaw members fulcrumed one upon the other near one end and having holding-jaws at the other end, with a separately-formed fiat spring secured to the broad side of one of the said jaw members and having one end engaged by the heel of the other of the said members, and an operating-lever having a holding-arm and pivotally mounted on one of the said members between the said jaws and the said fulcrum with the said holding-arm bearing on one of the said members for press- With the heel of the other member for holding ing it toward the other member. the said spring under tension tending to open IO 3; In a garment-clasp, the combination of the grasping ends of the said aw member. the two aw members, and one having the oif- ERNEST N HUMPHREY set with opening therein, the other having a heel passed through the said offset, with a flat Witnesses:

spring secured on the broad side of one jaw STANLEY PARKER, member and having one end in engagement THos. F. FARRELL. 

